Palestine: A Modern History (ص 34)

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Palestine: A Modern History (ص 34)

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70 Polarisation: The Military Administration 1917-1920
the whole country is now quiet from a political point’é6fiview, But it
is the quiet resulting from exhaustion which followed the political
orgy during the visit of the Commission, and partly from the tension
caused by the belief that the decision of the Conference will be
known shortly .'8
ve ts
In the same letter French.replied to an.allegation made by. Weigmann
regarding ‘artificial agitation’ in Palestine:
It is the considered opinion of British officers, who know Palestine
well that the opposition to Zionism, whichis based to a certain
extent on the, national sentiment of the inhabitants, has: grown
stronger during-the, past months, and it is believed that is well known
to-the (Zionist),,Commission, which has an efficient sintelligence’
service. na
Colonél French’s report was, in fact, a subdued version ofwhat one
of his staff at Haifa had to say about Weizmann’s allegatigns:
The striking miscalculation,of Weizmann’s as to the general opposi-
tion to Zionism which he characterizes as ‘attificial agitation that
may still be prevalent’ is startling. I found at Jerysalem the opposi-
tion still more strong than, when I left there 4 months ago, and
better organized, .it is generally recognised: that Jerusalem and
Nablus are the political touchstones for Palestine, the latter place
being if anything more fanatical: and anti-Jew than, Jerusalem. ‘The
Zionist Commission have in Jerusalem a,,very efficient counter-
espionage service, and I suggest that their reports have either been
sent home or ignored as-alarmist.!°?
~~
Preparing for Revolt
The Zionist Intelligence records of that period — The Hagana Archives
+ corroborate what British Intelligence Officers in Palestine were
reporting to their superiors in Cairo and Londgn. Before we deal with
the interesting and detailed reports of the Zionist Intelligence, it is
necessary to refer to-a highly informative report by Major Camp about
the ‘Arab Movement and Zionism’.!!° 4
The report gave an account of the leading Arab societies in
Jerusalem: el-Muntada, el-Adabi, el-Nadi el-Arabi, el-Akha we'l-Afaf,
Muntada el-Dajjani and el-Feda’iyyeh, the latter being a secret
commando type body comprising many policemen and gendarmes.
-
Polarisation: The'Military Administration 1917-1920 71
The activities of these societies involved a comprehensive.preparation
for a revolt:
Arming of members'with small arms; preparation of-lists of promi-
nent Jews and pro-Zionists among non-Jews, with place of residence
‘of: each; propaganda among the Bedouin of ther.trans-Jordan. ..
weffort to concentrate Palestinian officers at Ammian, so as:to be
ready in case pro-Zionist policy is announced, learning of Hebrew by
a few agents so as to follow Hebrew papers and conversation;
appointment of agents to watch everything poing on; effort to effect
agreement with police and gendarmes to hand.over arms or at least
to put no obstacles in the way in case a revolt takes place; teaching
of pan-Arab ideals to children, especially those in Reshidieh and
Rawdte el-Maarif Schools.
The activities of three of these societies were described earlier in
Weizmann’s 8 February report. According to that report members of
these societies were to
. .. try also to organise terrorists and secret corporations to fight later
against the Jews by guerrillas. They try generally to create an ‘etat
d’esprit’ very hostile against us. Many of them engage-themselves in
the Police service so that they might do, much easier their -work.
Many of them are quite learned young men, having studied in
Europe and several of them know perfectly well the Jewish
question.""} ;
f +
An undercover agent of the Zionist Intelligence. reported a meeting
of sixteen members of el-Feda iyyeh'om 27 August 1919, presumably in
preparation for a revolt. Members reported on successful contacts with
the chiefs of Trans-Jordan, the, availability of arms, and on all the
villagers.around Jerusalem who $wait-impatiently for the first signal’."'?
A speech delivered at; thatymeeting,by one of: the leaders of the
secret commando organisation Jawdat el-Halabi- illustrated the radical
character of the el-Feda‘iyyeh and the readiness of its members to draw
the logical conclusions against the Anglo-Zionist alliance in Palestine:
We purchase arms as much as we liked and we shall receive more.
Our principal action must be-against the Jews who want to take our
land, but if the Government will help them we shall also be against
the Government. Many of our members.and friends are policemen
s
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هو جزء من

Palestine: A Modern History

تاريخ

1978

المنشئ

Abdul-Wahhab Kayyali

مجموعات العناصر

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